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Written by Yasmin
• Thursday, 26 November 2009 |
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Monday November 9, 2009, KUCHING - The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) wants an urgent review of the Sarawak state laws to guarantee all indigenous communities’ their right to customary land.
Suhakam commissioner Dr Mohammad Hirman Ritom Abdullah said the rights
of the indigenous people to their customary land, which embraced
cultural sites and traditional burial places, should be upheld.
“A right to land would create economic opportunities and provide means
to sustain a basic livelihood. Such factors are vital considerations in
minimising social displacement,” he said at a dinner here last
Saturday.
Dr Ritom said the Penan community’s right to establishing native
customary rights to land they had resettled had not been resolved.
The Sarawak Land Code 1958 does not have provisions for the Penans to
establish ownership of land on which they have traditionally lived for
generations.
Dr Ritom said more than half of the complaints Suhakam Sarawak received
were related to land matters. Last year, the commission recorded 78
complaints - The Star Online.
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